Saturday, November 3, 2012

Homemade Chicken and Rice Soup

Hello everyone, I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween filled with ghosts and goblins and lots of candy. A few weeks ago everyone in my family was feeling under the weather and I wanted soup but I wanted to make it myself. We had a left over roasted chicken in the fridge and so I thought I would make a homemade chicken stock and make some soup. Be looking for that recipe for the homemade stock in the coming days but today I will give you the recipe on how I made this delicious soup. Its very healthy and very filling. My family loved it and there were no left overs, so this was just what the Dr ordered or in this case just what the mama ordered.Ingredients:6 cups of chicken stock or broth4 carrots4 chicken breasts with the skin on1 large onion or two small ones3 stalks of celery including the leafy parts4 cloves of garlic2 cups of rice I used reg. white rice1 jalapeno diced (optional)4 dried bay leaves or 2 fresh ones1 tablespoon of garlic powder1 tablespoon of onion powder1 teaspoon of cumin (optional)Half of a teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes (optional)1 teaspoon of dried thyme or you can use fresh1 teaspoon of black peppersalt to tasteInstructions:Before you get started on anything you need to roast your 4 chicken breasts with the skin on. Season with any seasonings of your choice, I kept it simple. Salt and pepper and a little bit of thyme, since I was using the same seasonings in the soup I thought I would keep it all universal. They will roast for about an hour at 350 degrees in your oven. After the chicken has cooled remove the skin and start dicing up your chicken. Put in a bowl and put aside. Now start dicing up all your veggies, add some extra virgin olive oil to a dutch oven or a large pot and add in all the veggies. Let them get soft and translucent. From here add in all your seasonings and chicken stock and chicken. Bring everything up to a boil and add in the rice. Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes or until all the veggies have softened and the rice is done. Serve with some crackers or crusty bread or a salad or just have it on its own. Its a great way to stay warm and have some comfort food without a lot of the fat and calories. I hope your family enjoys this as much as mine did. Take care all and Live, laugh and love. Heather